Die casting, where molten metal is inserted into a permanent mold under high pressure, is useful for large scale production of dense, fine-grained structures that have excellent wear and fatigue properties with close manufacturing tolerances because of the permanent nature of the molds. There is a need in the art for undercut die casting processes. Generally, die cast components have a top and bottom die. After a material such as aluminum has been injected into the die and the part has solidified, the top die will be lifted upwards and the part can be removed from the die.
For certain designs, due to the geometry and other constraints, the top die cannot be pulled directly upward. The component would become “locked” to the die. When these conditions exist, the use of expendable molding, such as investment casting or the like is used instead. Sand cores allow for undercut geometric features because they can be broken and shaken to get the locked core out of the component. The sand cast process uses a core made of compressed and bonded sand. These cores are not reusable and require additional machines to make them, making them unsuitable for large-scale part production. Another disadvantage is the extensive clean out process.
There has been a long-felt need in the art for a reusable system for producing undercut features in products in an efficient and effective way that can be used in conjunction with large-scale part production casting techniques such as die casting. The embodiments detailed herein overcome the outlined problems and meet the long-felt need.